Let’s have a look at OCTA’s “partner’s” record. A simple Google search for ‘caltrans abuses’ found plenty of evidence of why these folks (and their friends at SCAG) ought to be run out of town: Continue reading→

I did not react well to two recent recruitments at the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). OCTA has had the same public member on its Board since 1993, nearly twenty years. When the end of his term was nearing, OCTA requested that the Board members assist with recruiting candidates for this position, which I did in one or more of my UPDATES (as you know, I don’t do a newsletter but, I will make an occasional announcement). I received several telephone calls from interested parties inquiring if it would be worth the time to submit an application. I strongly encouraged these overly qualified candidates to give it a shot. OCTA’s then Board Chair [Will Kempton] assembled a small committee, reviewed the candidates, determined that not one of them “measured up,” and reappointed the incumbent. I was infuriated because I knew that a number of candidates not only “measured up,” but would have enhanced the quality of the OCTA Board. The full OCTA Board was not even given a choice between the incumbent or candidates A and B. The same sort of cram-down occurred with OCTA’s CEO selection [Darrell Johnson] process. Needless to say, I have not been a happy camper. And I don’t want a similar process here at the Board of Supervisors.

Per Supervisor Pat Bates newsletter, dig a little deeper for your ride to work beginning next week:

New Bus Fares Effective Sunday

A bus fare increase approved by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) in November is scheduled to go into effect Sunday. Cash fare for a bus ride will rise from $1.50 to $2, according to OCTA. A day pass will go from $4 to $5, and a monthly pass will increase from $55 to $69.

Second District County Supervisor and OCTA Director John Moorlach (profile, cities served here) writes today in his great Moorlach Update email newsletter:

…in the aftermath of the rejection of toll lanes for the I-405, it is good fiscal stewardship to take a closer look at a modified Alternative 2, making sure that the opportunity cost of failing to consider the merits of doubling the yield of new traffic capacity for an extremely modest cost increase is fully understood [by the incoming nine new OCTA Board members].

While the nine new members of the OCTA Board had an opportunity to revisit the selection of Darrell Johnson as the agency’s chief executive, his appointment was unanimous per the Register and the union-funded Voice of OC. Johnson’s original selection was more a Brown Act issue than it was about him (he’s absolutely more competent than his predecessor) — some of the BOS Directors were unable to vote on him as it did not occur during a regular Board meeting. We thought that to be a fairly serious legal issue but apparently no one else did.